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Don't Let Things Grow On Your Roof!
2009-02-18 23:22:00
Winter is a great time for dirt, leaves, and other debris to pile up in your rain gutters. Leave it long enough and there will be buildup. Leave it a really long time and those bits of dust, plantlife and other things will mush together and decompose, eventually becoming plant-worthy soil. Add a few seeds and some rain, and before you know it, green sprouts are popping up on your roof. Today I passed a home in Los Gatos in which this seems to have happened. Grass and weeds were sprouting out of the rain gutters and had crept onto the roof quite a few inches. Why is this a problem? Because the more you grow things on the roof, the more moisture you have getting trapped up there and the faster the roof decomposes. You don't want things like fungus and dry rot to munch away at your home, but having plants grow on your roof is going to lead to exactly that. Keep your gutters clean so problems like this do not have a chance to start. It is i...
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Beware: Fake Property Tax Reassessment Applications and Bills
2009-02-16 03:35:00
On the offchance that you haven't heard of the latest real estate scam related to declining property values, be on notice that residents throughout Santa Clara County are receiving invoices from an agency that appears to help homeowners get their property taxes lowered - for an outrageous fee. The scam notices come from "Property Tax Reassessment" in Los Angeles and it claims that your property values have delined to far lower than your assessed value. We have lived in our Belwood of Los Gatos home for about 9.5 years, so our assessed value is far lower than market value (even today), but this document claimed that our property should be reassessed at about 20% lower still. My response to Jim, my husband, was "Thank goodness their proposed value is wrong". In fact, it's off in our case by about half. Please, if you get this nonsense in your mail, just shred it. You can check comps for your home online very easily and at NO cost at Zillow.co...
More About: Applications , Fake , Beware , Bills

Los Gatos Bank Robber Nabbed
2009-02-13 00:47:00
We've had an unusually high amount of crime relative to normal in Los Gatos in recent months. On Tuesday of this week, the Bank of America in downtown Los Gatos (on North Santa Cruz) was robbed. Happily, a suspect has been apprehended by police and she is now in custody. To read more, visit the Merc's article on this story: Woman arrested in Los Gatos bank robbery
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Photo of Los Gatos Hills and Fog This Morning
2009-02-11 18:59:00
The morning the skies were perfectly clear and void of clouds over Silicon Valley with one notable exception: just over the town of Los Gatos , a patch of low fog was clinging to the hills, nestled into the smaller valleys and cascading like a waterfall through the pass. My husband, Jim Handy, snagged this photo from Communications Hill in San Jose at about 7:45am today. This was a great pic but the sky was very white, so I added some pale blue to the sky (using Picasa and the graduated tint function). Although the pic below is doctored, it gives a better "feel" for what we saw in Santa Clara County today.
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Football is Over: Need Something to Do?
2009-02-10 22:14:00
The SuperBowl has come and gone. Now what??? There's plenty to do in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Campbell, San Jose and nearby areas within Silicon Valley. But if you've got the "winter blahs", maybe you could use a few suggestions. The Museums of Los Gatos (2 locations) showcases art (Tait location) and history (Forbes Mill location) The Art Museum of Los GatosCurrent art show is Painterly Painting: The Next Level 4 Tait Avenue, Los Gatos CA Now through February 28th 2009 Also, art classes are offered through the museum too. One offering is a Life Drawing Class, which happens on Tuesdays from 2:30 - 5pm, ongoing, drop in basis. $14 per session (uninstructed, no registration required). Call 408 395-7375 for more information. The History Museum of Los Gatos has rotating and travelling exhibits. Right now the featured exhibits are the car dealerships of Los Gatos). 75 Church St off E. Main St. Los Gatos, CA 95030 408.395.7375 Ope...
More About: Football

Good News: YSI Met Its Goal and Will Remain Open, Active and Working with S
2009-02-09 03:35:00
The Youth Science Institute, which has facilities in Los Gatos at Vasona Lake County Park, in Saratoga at Sanborn Park, and in San Jose at Alum Rock Park, has met its campaign goal of $300,000 and will keep its doors open! Read more at the YSI website: http://www.ysi-ca.org/
More About: News , Open , Good News , Goal , Good

How Hard is it to Sell a Los Gatos Home Now?
2009-02-05 19:24:00
If you read the San Jose Mercury, you've seen a rash of articles on the local, Santa Clara County real estate market. You probably know that although there are a lot of foreclosures in some parts of Silicon Valley, they are being bought up (or "absorbed") at a fairly decent rate. These homes are more affordable, and buyers are responding. Countywide, about one home in four is selling. It's not that easy in the high end marketplaces such as Los Gatos , Almaden Valley, Monte Sereno and Saratoga. In these four areas, only about 8 - 15% of all homes are selling. (Monte Sereno is a very small area and the actual numbers for January were worse as no homes closed escrow, so technically in January that would be 0%. However, it has improved there in February already.) My January Real Estate Report is now out and I invite you to view it and input the area and home type you seek to get the most current numbers. Here's an image from that report re...
More About: Home , Hard , Sell , Los Gatos

Where are the high voltage power lines in Los Gatos?
2009-01-30 05:32:00
Tonight I spent some time on Google maps, looking at the satellite photos and tracing the high voltage power lines that run through Los Gatos . These power lines are somewhat on the north side of town, following Anne Way, Blossom Valley Drive, cutting across Los Gatos Almaden Road, following Blackwell to the Carlton Avenue park, the Live Oak Manor Playlot, and then cutting across Los Gatos Blvd toward Lark, continuing on through the Wimbleton area and nearly touching highway 85. From there, it follows the freeway and the train tracks into Saratoga. I became so engrossed in the satellite photos that I got carried away and tracked the lines up through Saratoga, the hills of Cupertino, down through Almaden Valley, Blossom Valley and Santa Teresa areas of San Jose and down to the substation of the Coyote Valley and also came back through the Santa Cruz Mountains near Montevina Road and through the Lexington area. (Since I followed it for a large area, I a...
More About: Power , High , Lines , Voltage

Want A Great Bowl of Clam Chowder in Los Gatos? Visit Willow Street - It's
2009-01-26 01:39:00
On Friday I enjoyed a late lunch with a real estate colleague and friend of mine at Willow Street Pizza in downtown Los Gatos . The food is always good but this time I had a bowl of clam chowder and it was the best I've had in years. With New England Clam Chowder (the "white" one, as opposed to the red, Manhattan Clam Chowder), there are a lot of things that can go wrong. Sometimes the clams are gritty. Frequently the potatoes disintegrate and the whole soup becomes mushy and too thick. Perhaps most often, there's excessive cream or fat in the recipe and the chowder is unpleasantly oily. The bowl of chowder I was served on Friday, though, was a very pleasant surprise. The potatoes and other vegetables were not overcooked. The soup was very tasty and not overly heavy. And if I'm not mistaken, there were small, delicious dumplings cooked into the recipe too. The combination was unbeatable as the look, texture and taste were all fantastic. ...
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Youth Science Institute at Vasona Park in Los Gatos Needs Your Support!
2009-01-21 19:16:00
The Youth Science Institute, or YSI, is based in Los Gatos at Vasona Lake County Park , but serves all of Santa Clara County. It serves about 30,000 children each year across Silicon Valley and is highly regarded, but has been in danger of being shuttered due to a significant financial shortfall of $300,000. It's down to the wire now and just $20,000 is still needed by the end of January.If you can help, please visit the campaign's website and donate or make a pledge! How did the YSI come to be in such a dire situation? Apparently it was due to a combination of things, from fewer signups in the summer programs, not enough donors or donors unable to be as generous as in the past, fewer field trips (due to state budget issuesj etc. The YSI had fewer than 200 donors prior to the fundraising campaign. Today that number is over 1000. The public support has been fantastic but a little more help is needed: $20,000 by the end of January. Plea...
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November Los Gatos Real Estate Market Update
2008-11-17 19:29:00
How's the Los Gatos Real Estate Market Faring? There are many ways of viewing the Los Gatos real estate market. One approach includes looking at the homes which are currently for sale, or the "active listings". Altos Research, to which I subscribe, uses this data in analyzing the state of things for the realty market in various cities, towns, and zip codes. Today we'll look at these active listings in all Los Gatos zip codes, both single family homes and condominiums, and view the data by price quartile whenever the trends seem quite divergent from one price point to the next. Los Gatos Real Estate Pricing for Single Family Homes by Zip Code First, let's look at Los Gatos houses in the 95030 area. We'll begin by viewing list prices by quartile. Except for the highest priced homes, it seems that asking prices are close to flat in this part of Los Gatos. It doesn't appear to be a market crash when these numbers are viewed. Next, let...
More About: Real Estate Market , Update

What Does It Take to Sell Your Silicon Valley or Los Gatos Home in Today's
2008-11-14 23:42:00
The Silicon Valley real estate market is very much in the buyer's favor right now; in Los Gatos , San Jose, Saratoga, Campbell and elsewhere in Santa Clara County, most homes are not selling at all or only selling after a long time on the market and with several painful price reductions. Prices are falling, year over year, in most of the valley - Monte Sereno appears to be the only possible exception. That said, some homes are selling just the same. In Los Gatos, there are 248 houses and condos currently for sale. In the last month in 95032 and 95030, 21 houses and condos have closed escrow and 23 have gone sale pending in the same timeframe. So the percentage of homes selling is a little under 10%. The question to ask yourself, if you want to sell your home right now, is "what does it take to sell my Silicon Valley home in today's market?" You might also ask "how can I get the most money for my home in this market?" What will it take t...
More About: Home , Sell

Veterans Day
2008-11-11 19:59:00
On this Veterans Day I am especially remembering my Grandfather, Col. Michael Buckley, who was the first U.S. POW in World War II, as well as all our loved ones who have served to protect us. I am also thinking of our family and friends who are serving now in Afghanistan and Iraq. May God keep them and all of our troops safe.
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The Strathmore Neighborhood of Los Gatos
2008-11-08 04:03:00
Sitting close to the Los Gatos foothills and enjoying lovely views, Strathmore is a small community in east Los Gatos which enjoys beautiful tree-lined streets and a community pool. Where is the Strathmore Neighborhood of Los Gatos? Strathmore is an east Los Gatos neighborhood found within the boundaries of Union Avenue, Anne Way, Blossom Hill Road, and Meadowbrook Road, approximately. It belongs to the Union School District and the Campbell Union High School District. It is not clear if all of these streets may have been in Strathmore originally, but now they are considered the same neighborhood. There is still some open land in the neighborhood. At the end of Panorama Way, there's a large lot that appears roomy enough for perhaps three homes. New homes were build in recent years near the bend in Briarwood Way (and Cambrian View Way, which is not named on the map). They are spacious and very tastefully done and enhance the neighborh...

Closed Sales of Homes in Los Gatos: Yes, The Numbers Are Down
2008-11-04 03:13:00
How is the Los Gatos real estate market doing? For many homesellers in Los Gatos (and Silicon Valley generally), and for their Realtors, the real estate market is extremely challenging right now. Buyers have been wary for many months already, but now they're concerned about a recession and job losses, not just the possibility of a real estate sales price that won't hold its value later. It is a deepening buyers market overall, but especially within the market for single family homes. So what is happening with Los Gatos home sales? Inventory is rising among single family homes and condos and townhomes. Right now there are 197 single family homes for sale (it was over 200 last week) and 44 condominiums or townhomes. A year ago, it was 113 houses and 23 condos. A month ago it was 184 SFH and 45 condos, and a year ago October it was 104 SFH and 22 condos. Sales were down in October. We had a surge of sales in September, but then the meltdown o...
More About: Homes , Numbers , Closed

Election 2008 - Voting in Los Gatos
2008-11-02 22:20:00
Where Do Los Gatos Residents Vote? This Tuesday is the general election and many in the town may be wondering where can you vote? Click on the link and you'll be able to input your address and see your assigned polling location. This year, some Los Gatos residents were informed that they are voting by mail or dropping off a completed ballot at a nearby polling place. For those of us in the east Los Gatos neighborhood of Belwood, Alerche Road and Harwood Road near Belwood, the place to drop off ballots is Noddin School, 1755 Gilda Way (at Harwood Road), San Jose 95124. I wondered why this time around we got a vote-by-mail ballot when normally we just go to the cabana on Belwood Gateway to vote. The California Election s code determines that if there are fewer than 250 registered voters in a precinct, it must be a "mail ballot" area. (It apparently can vary from one election to the next as to how a precinct will be designated in terms of ha...
More About: Voting , Election 2008 , 2008

Reminder: Los Gatos Historic Home Tours This Weekend
2008-11-01 22:48:00
Quick reminder that this weekend is the home tour of historic homes in Los Gatos . For more information, see Los Gatos Historic Home Tours . Also, remember to turn your clocks back an hour tonight!
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Meet the Blossom Manor Neighborhood of Los Gatos
2008-11-01 09:00:00
Blossom Manor is a highly popular residential area in Los Gatos which is close to shops, parks and the highly acclaimed Los Gatos schools. There are many gently winding roads, a few very minor hills and some perfectly tree lined streets. It's a tidy area where homes old and new all tend to be well kept. Where is the Blossom Manor Neighborhood ? Located in east Los Gatos, Blossom Manor is bordered by Blossom Hill Road, Los Gatos Boulevard, Los Gatos Almaden Road, and Longwood Drive. Below, please find an enhanced map of the area. I added the location of the shopping centers (3 grocery stores between them, many restaurants, coffee places, video rental, Noah's Bagels, drug store, banks, etc.) and I added the two nearby public schools for this neighborhood of town. (Google can add schools but adds all of them as dots - but no names.) To see the live Google map and be able to zoom in and out and pan the area generally, use this link.) The...
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Is The Cats Restaurant Readying to Reopen?
2008-10-31 00:26:00
Nearly two years ago, The historic Cats Restaurant in Los Gatos quickly and quietly closed without much warning (see article in the Los Gatos Observer). One of the area's older buildings, it was constructed as a stage coach stop in the late 1800s, possibly around 1896. Yesterday I was near the tavern, photographing Leo and Leona at the entrance to Poet's Canyon just steps away, and popped by old building to see what was going on with it. To my surprise, it appeared that The Cats is being made ready to reopen. There were several trucks and workers in view and the parking lot sported new blacktop and parking stripes. I could not find any news about a reopening, but perhaps some of the Live in Los Gatos readers might know what the story is. Your feedback is appreciated! The Cats has served many functions over the years and is an area landmark. It would be great to see it open again. The Cats Restaurant is located at 17533 San...

Is The Economic Crisis Impacting Los Gatos Home Sales?
2008-10-26 05:00:00
Several of my buyers have recently decided to hold off until things calm down with the economy. So I wondered if this was widespread or not. Tonight I checked the sales in Los Gatos (zips 95030 and 95032) for the period of 10/1 - 10/25 this year and last year. Sales are slower than last month but still ahead of last year, generally. Among single family homes in Los Gatos, there have been 15 homes that went sale pending in that time frame this year, wheras there were 8 last year. For condos and townhomes it was 4 this year and 5 last year - close enough to not be significant in my opinion. Right now, it does not look terribly bad. Sales are mostly ahead of last year at this same time. That said, we'll know more when ALL the factors are in - price points, list price to sales price ratio, days on market, etc.
More About: Home , Economic , Crisis

Halloween Events In and Near Los Gatos
2008-10-25 04:23:00
You probably know about the Haunted Harvest Festival at Oak Meadow Park (blogged about on this site recently). You may not know about the many other fun Halloween related events going on in Silicon Valley, though! Today I blogged about it on another site of mine, the Valley of Hearts Delight blog. I invite you to have a look at the list of events posted there - see if something doesn't match your free time and interests! Here's the link: Halloween Events in Silicon Valley. Happy Halloween!
More About: Gatos , Los Gatos

Mappng the Boundaries of the Town of Los Gatos: This is the Shape We're In!
2008-10-22 01:01:00
Another Los Gatos Map Post! This time I was trying to find a simplified map of the boundaries or borders for the town of Los Gatos online. As a local Realtor, I'm keenly aware of the way the line jumps in and out, espcially along the side with San Jose's Cambrian Park. This is also true with the border with Monte Sereno, too. No shortage of weirdness along the Campbell line either, though - one whole section has a Los Gatos mailing address but is actually Campbell (voting, police etc). (The latter refers to the triangular shaped tract of Leep homes which runs between Pollard Road, Quito Road and Hwy 85.) Little tricks like knowing that a 3 digit address on a house usually means Los Gatos but 4 digits usually means San Jose (but knowing that there are exceptions) can be a big help. This is helpful while driving down the road in a border area. But it's still hard to get a grip on what's where, so I went in search of an online map since the...
More About: Town , Shape , The Town

Step Back in Time with Historic Topographical Map of Los Gatos
2008-10-18 03:37:00
While trying to find an old map of Los Gatos online, I stumbled upon some interesting and historic topographical maps of San Jose, Los Gatos, Gilroy, Santa Clara, and other areas nearby care of the USGS. I will place a tiny segment of one here so that you can get the idea and visit the site yourself: My husband, Jim, loves maps and he tells me that each one of those "dots" visible on the map represents a house. Amazing! Another surprise, to me anyway, is that Kennedy Road looks like it used to be called Rinconada. Other, nearby parts of the map reveal that Camden Avenue was where the rail line used to run to the mines in Almaden and Guadalupe. Cool stuff - hope you enjoy it! http://bard.wr.usgs.gov/historical/subind ex/hist-sanjose.html#NEW%20ALMADEN
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Los Gatos Residents: Mark Your Calendars for November 17th
2008-10-16 05:57:00
Invites you to celebrate Democracy in Action A reception to honor the selection of the Los Gatos Mayor and Vice Mayor Immediately following an abbreviated 7 PM Council Meeting Monday, November 17, 2008 Town Hall Council Chambers 110 E. Main Street Los Gatos , CA
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Haunted Harvest Festival at Oak Meadow Park in Los Gatos
2008-10-15 03:59:00
Starting October 16th, Oak Meadow Park in Los Gatos will be transformed into a fantabulous Haunted Harvest Festival . Take a self-guided tour along the Goblin's Glen. The 102 year old Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad will be riding and the hand-painted carosoul will be cruising. Trick or treating is available for the young ones.Tickets are $2 - $8, depending on how much you do. Open from sunset to 10pm on these dates: October 16, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29 ,30, 31 For more information, please see www.experienceshadowhills.com or call 408-395-7433. if you'd like to volunteer, please contact skeletoncoast@hauntedmansion.com. Oak Meadow Park is located at 200 Blossom Hill Road (at University Avenue), Los Gatos, CA 95032. This is a fundraiser which supports several very good local causes: according to the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce, these fun Halloween events "Benefit The Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad, The Los Gatos Police Foundatio...

Did You Feel the Little Earthquake on Saturday Night?
2008-10-14 02:25:00
I didn't either. Apparently it was a micro-quake at 10:18pm, centered near Lexington Resevoir, a mini 2.2. Probably felt like a truck rumbling by. Here's the info on it: http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/nc 51209354.htm May they all be so minor!
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Is the Financial Crisis on Wall Street Causing Fewer Home Sales in Los Gato
2008-10-12 17:48:00
I have never followed the stock market so much as I have in the last two weeks. [My primary concern is my kids' 529 college savings plan, where the money is all in an index fund (that's how CA has it set up).]And I wondered if Los Gatos home buyers have their downpayments in stocks and may also be holding back, so I took a look at very recent sales data to see if there are any new trends. From my initial study of the pending sales in Los Gatos and Monte Sereno in the 95030 and 95032 zip codes, it does not appear that a slowdown in buying is happening over & above what we were already experiencing prior to the roller coaster ride on Wall Street . sales initiated Houses Condos 10/1/2008 - 10/11/2008 7 3 10/1/2007 - 10/11/2007 7 ...
More About: Wall Street , Sales , Financial , Home

The Fun Continues at the St. Mary's Country Fair in Los Gatos!
2008-10-12 01:04:00
The St. Mary's Country Fair in downtown Los Gatos is off to a fantastic start! Last night the place was hopping to the tunes of the Joe Sharino Band. Tonight it's the Cheeseballs. Come on back! Today started off a little cool and slow but picked up by 11 or 11:30 or so. The wind died down and it got to be very comfortable, and folks from all over town were there. The burrito booth ended up being over-staffed, so I was reassigned to work the skee ball booth from 10am to 1pm today. It was a great spot with a clear view of the stage and I saw loads of people I knew there, including Steve Rice, who's running for town council. What's really neat about working a game booth, though, is being able to interact with kids. One young family came through and their daughter was just too adorable to not photograph (with their permission). I played with the image because unfortunately the toddler's face was shadowed and the groovy sunglasses she's ...
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Reminder: The St. Mary's Country Fair Begins Tonight at 5pm!
2008-10-11 00:01:00
Tonight begins another fun weekend in downtown Los Gatos at the annual St. Mary's Country Fair . (Located on Bean at Tait but also reachable via Lyndon Court off Main Street.) Starting at 5pm today, there will be rides, food booths, arts & crafts and much more. Free music and dancing both tonight and tomorrow night - no cover charge! There's something for everyone. Need more info? Please see my other post about the fair. If you happen to be there on Saturday, stop by and say hello! I'll be working the burrito booth from 10am - 1pm. Hope to see you there!
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Golf Cart Stolen from Los Gatos United Soccer League at Fisher Middle Schoo
2008-06-03 16:31:00
The good folks at the Los Gatos United Soccer League are asking for the help of the townsfolk to help them find their older golf cart, which is used by president of the league, Ed San Juan, for picking up trash cans after soccer games at Fisher. Families and friends of the many players who've enjoyed the field at Fisher (including my family) have appreciated having the cans brought out to the field and the 1991 Yamaha was a good way to transport them on and off the field for the game times. Last seen Thursday evening, the golf cart was discovered missing on Saturday morning in an area littered with about 20 used, empty beer cans. Police were called to the scene and state that bolt cutters were used to get the golf cart loose. Description of cart: "It's a weathered white 1991 Yamaha gas golf cart (nothing fancy), it has a top with a front windshield, and a black flat-bed used for picking up garbage." To contact the LGUSL about the cart, you may email them via the contacts page of...
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